A key part of many successful activist movements is a precipitating event, said Northeastern assistant professor Sarah J. Jackson, a scholar of socialmovements. It’s an event that takes the energy of sustained activism and thrusts it into the public consciousness like a volcano finally erupting after years of built-up pressure.
Perhaps the most recent example is the public revelation of systematic, widespread sexual harassment and abuse by producer Harvey Weinstein—the reporting on which sparked a movement calling for the acknowledged agency and equality of women.
The #MeToo movement, which has exploded on Twitter and the red carpet, began more than 10 years ago. Activist Tarana Burke created the campaign in 2007 as a way to reach sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities.
--
--
Perhaps the most recent example is the public revelation of systematic, widespread sexual harassment and abuse by producer Harvey Weinstein—the reporting on which sparked a movement calling for the acknowledged agency and equality of women.
The #MeToo movement, which has exploded on Twitter and the red carpet, began more than 10 years ago. Activist Tarana Burke created the campaign in 2007 as a way to reach sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities.
This slow burn then sudden eruption is what makes socialmovements so hard to predict, according to Jackson. “If you had asked me at the beginning of 2017 if #MeToo was going to blow up this year, I couldn’t have told you it was,� she said.
It’s nearly impossible to say what event could thrust an issue from the fringe into the mainstream consciousness. Furthermore, these events are often harmful to the people they’re perpetrated against. You don’t root for them to happen. “In the case of the Black Lives Matter movement, the precipitating events were the murders of unarmed black people by police,� Jackson said. “That’s devastating.�
Still, there are a handful of issues that have enough momentum—and that are deeply-enough steeped in mainstream conversation—that they’ll more than likely continue to develop in 2018.